What Is A Family?
by Bumblehigh07
Summary: Emma and Jeff Overlander were left on the doorstep of Miss Jackie's home for kids with only a small note telling their names. For fifteen years they lived within the orphanage walls with normal lives. But one night while at a party, Emma is attacked by something. Is it mere coincidence or is there more to their life stories then the twins thought? And just who is Laughing Jack?
1. Jeff and Emma

They had heard the stories. They had heard the rumors. They had watched the police reports.

They just didn't believe.

Emma Overlander and her twin brother Jeff had been stuck in the orphanage for as long as they could remember. From the time they could crawl, they were swept up in and put Miss Jackie's protection and care. They grew up listening to her lullabies and watching as other parentless children repeatedly went back and forth through the orphangae doors. Every kid was eventually picked except for them.

Every couple always liked them on their own, but they could not take in twins. twelve years went by and still not a single family decided they were ready for the two. So, they agreed to always stay together. If one got adopted without the other, heaven and earth could not stand in the way until they were a pair once again. Where ever one went, the other would surely follow.

Miss Jackie told them, the older they became the more difficult it would be to find a family. If no couple wanted the twins when they were children, who is to say any would want them as teenagers? But they didn't mind. They told her, when they were eighteen and they were still without a family, then they would leave the orphanage and go on their own. Miss Jackie was beginning to show her old age, her once shimmering brown hair now starting to dim into silver. Jeff and Emma were doing more and more work around the orphanage but they didn't mind. Miss Jackie was the closest thing they had to a mother and they would do anything for her.

Miss Jackie was never married but her heart was full of kindness for all children without homes, building one for those who had nowhere to go and no one to call. She had found the twins on a dark September night. A storm had begun to grow hours before in the daylight and by the time the sun had descended away, the thunder could already shake the windows free of their glass. A loud knocking had woken her late into the night, if her memory served her she could have sworn it was almost three in the morning. She rushed to the door in her robe and slippers, opened he latch and peering out. She saw nothing but the dark street illuminated by the lamp post and slick from the pouring rain. She glanced down and gasped at the sight of two infants tucked away in a basket.

She quickly pulled them inside, kneeling down and looking them over. One was in a cotton candy pink blanket and the other's was sky blue. A small note, written with frenzied penmanship on a note card, was in the little girls blanket. It was short and simple.

_Their names are Jeff and Emma. Give them a good home. _

_-J & J _

Emma had once discovered the note while cleaning out Miss Jackie's filing cabinet, staring at the messy splatters of ink in what could have possible been her mother or father's handwriting. She hid it away in her pocket and finished before showing it to her brother later that night, his expression was the same of shock and hurt. " 'J & J'? You think that might have been their initials?" He asked handing her back the note. All his sister did was shrug and put away in the top drawer of her bedside table, where all they kept any sort of object from their childhood or parents. Neither of them got much sleep that night, the burden of never knowing their mother and father's identities kept their eyes from closing.

So instead, they listened as Miss Jackie's lullaby drifted through their walls. They never realized it was her last.

That was three years ago...

The police say that she just stopped breathing. That she was in a better place now.

A frail, orange leaf snapped off it's branch. It drifted slowly before being scooped into the wind's arms and agreeing to a tango. Soft blue eyes watched as the leaf danced freely with the wind and it's brothers. Emma couldn't help but sigh, leaning against the window pane and causing the glass to fog from her breath. She glanced over to the calendar, to the day with a large red circle and cake drawn in sharpie. Ten days from now she and her brother would be fifteen. This was the third year without Miss Jackie. She blew some of her hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. She remembered Miss Jackie telling her how she used to have long, curly brown hair like Emma.

She was pulled from her melancholy thoughts when she heard the front door open and shut before she heard Jeff. "Em! I'm home!" Emma smiled brightly, jumping off her bed and out her bedroom door. She caught her brother kicking off his shoes and slumping down onto the worn out couch with a sigh. She slowed down, smile falling away. She knew what that meant...

"Will we be able to get by this month?" She asked with desperate hope in her voice. She watched as he reach into the front pocket of his jeans and pulled out a folded up paper. Jeff opened it and read the number, his shoulders slumped and slid further down the seat. "Just barely.." He felt the couch dip to his left and glanced over to his twin, brushing his bangs out of his face. "Jeff, we can't keep doing this. Sooner or later, someone is going to come and take us." She emphasized the last two words. Jeff had been able to get a part time job at an auto-mechanics workshop as a janitor, but lately the shop had begun to go bankrupt from too many unsatisfied customers.

"No one's gonna take us, Em. I'll just find somewhere else to work." They both knew he was lying, Emma could see it along with the fatigue settling over his head reflecting in the emerald coloring of his eyes. "Hey," he gently nudged her shoulder. "remember my friend Rick I was telling you about? Well he and his buddy Shane are throwing a party tonight, to let everyone have one more drive of fun before school starts. Wanna come with me?"

Her face scrunched up in thought, glancing at the familiar walls. Ever since Miss Jackie passed, the old house had lost it's warmth. She couldn't help the smile that came when her brother nudged her again. "Come on, Em. I know you want to!" Emma belted out laughing as Jeff began to tickle her, trying to swat him away and failing. "Jeff! Knock-haha-it off! Alright fine! Yes! I'll go-hahaha-to the party!"

Jeff grinned wide, jumping off his sister. He flinched when she socked him in the arm, holding and rubbing th spot she hit. "Ow.."

"You deserve it! I hate it when you do that to me.." She huffed, crossing her arms and turning away from him. She heard him crawl closer but simply tipped her nose up. "Emma.." He nudged her shoulders, soon just shaking her gently. "Come on, Em. You know I was just messing around!"

"Yeah. But I'm still mad at you."

"Soo..you're not going to the party?"

Emma tapped her finger against her upper arm as she thought, sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose. "I'll still go to the party." She didn't need to look behind her to know that her brother was grinning wide before he pulled her into a hug.

"You are so not going to regret this! Party starts in an hour so let's get ready." He jumped off the couch and made a sprint to the bathroom. Emma had to smile, rolling her eyes and standing up. That's when it hit her. The creeping chill up her spine and spreading over the back of her skull made her shiver. It felt as if someone was watching her. She whipped around and looked out the window.

Nothing. There was no one out on the street.

She brushed the feeling off and went to her room to change, her pajamas were not going to do for a party. She slipped on an old pair of black jeans and black t-shirt. She looked out her window and to the frost that began to take claim of the glass. Maybe it was best she wore a sweatshirt. She went to her closet and grabbed the first one her hand touch and tore it off it's hanger.

She slipped it over her head and smoothed out her curls, straightening out the white hoodie around her before the light ding of her phone caught her attention. She unlocked the screen and found a message from her friend. She nearly groaned when she realized what it was.

A chain link text message. Might as well read.

Excerpt from a local Newspaper:

**OMINOUS UNKNOWN**

**KILLER IS STILL**

**AT LARGE.**

After weeks of unexplained murders, the ominous unknown killer is still on the rise. After little evidence has been found, a young boy states that he survived one of the killer's attacks...

"Oh, whatever." Emma huffed, deleting the message and the obviously photo-shopped picture with it. "Local Killer on the loose, yeah right."

She brushed out the knots in her hair, trying not to let it hurt too much. Then she was looking at herself. Emma always had large eyes, and her irises always seemed to be glowing. Who's eyes were these? Were they her mother's? Her father's?

She uncapped her lipstick case, leaning closer to the mirror to apply. Her phone buzzed again and she slipped, her elbow falling onto the dresser and she growled in frustration. "What now?" She opened her phone screen and saw a text from a blocked number, arching an eyebrow, she opened and read the message.

_Don't go to that party, Emma._

She stared at the words, that cold feeling gripping her again. She could just feel the eyes baring into the back of her head, and she saw something in her peripheral vision. She saw a figure in the mirror that wasn't her own, or it could have been and she was just seeing things. They still wore a white sweatshirt and dark pants, but their face a was ghostly white with jet black hair hanging in their eyes.

Oh God, their eyes.

She could make out the dark rings around them along with the pink shade on the edges. They didn't blink and she tried not to look at their carved in smile. The sides of their mouth had been cut up and arched into a gruesome sneer. Finally she tore her gaze away from her phone and looked to her mirror.

She only saw her reflection. And the red that had etched across her face when had slipped. She snorted as the horrifying figure she saw turned out to be herself with a bad lipstick application.

Emma cleaned her face and dried it just in time for her brother to peer his head in her door. "Are you still fixing your makeup? Let's go, Em!"

She threw down the towel and grabbed her phone, shoving it into her pocket and rushing over to him. "Alright! I'm ready, let's get out of here." She could now hear the low blasting of a bass from outside where Jeff's friend was waiting for them. She only pulled her her hood up as the icy wind tried to lift up her hair. She climbed into the navy blue charger behind her brother and with a rev of the engine, they drove away.


	2. Laughing Jack

Her vision blurred, the ground sweeping below her in an array of dizzying colors. She saw greens, browns, blacks, and even the flash of white every now and again. She could hear the heavy pants of whoever was carrying her. Strangely, she didn't care she was dizzy or being carried away somewhere by a complete stranger. What really scared her was the horrifying laughter that still echoed away in her ears and that hideous smile of the demon who's laughter it was. Her mind only focused on that and a single question.

When had everything gone so wrong?

_Three Hours Earlier..._

The Charger rolled up to the house and Shane jumped out through his sun roof. Jeff grinned at his friend and followed him while Emma went through the door like a normal person. The windows of the house were flashing with bright colors and silhouettes of dancing bodies. She had just stepped out and already she could tell this was one of those parties where someone sneaks rufies into the punch or food and someone else wakes up in the morning with tears on their face and blood on their sheets.

Maybe they shouldn't have come.

"Come on, Em!" Jeff called over his shoulder, halfway inside the house already. How had he gotten there so fast and she not noticed?

Emma took one last glance at the car, to the thought of safely being at home with a book or something, turned back and began walking up to her brother as she pulled her hood down.

"Jeff," She began, looking around as he pulled her inside and closed the door. "I don't have good feeling about this anymore.." The music was blasting in her ears and she wondered if he even heard what she had said.

"Oh, what! We just got here and already you wanna leave? Come on, sis. Just loosen up a little bit and have some fun!"

How was it her brother was always in such a giddy mood? When they were twelve and he had broken his arm during soccer, he was cracking jokes with the nurses the entire time he was at the hospital. It was almost scary how much Jeff didn't seem to care about things, but it was just the way he was born.

"I'm surprised your mouth hasn't froze with how much you smile," Emma watched as her brother's grin only got wider, nearly all of his teeth showing as he shrugged.

"Just feels good to smile, ya' know?"

She just rolled her eyes and sighed. "Whatever.."

Jeff was pulled away by his friends and left Emma alone by the door, she glanced around before moving. Her footsteps were silent against the pounding music as she made her way by the stairs where she stopped for a moment. It was descent sized party, adleast nearly 50-70 people within the house alone. She quickened her pace and shot away from the stairs as the all too familiar sounds of rough sex began to descend from the wooden steps.

Everyone there was older then she and her twin, they weren't even fifteen and all the other party goers had to have been in their early 20's. She really didn't like this.

She bumped into a tall, blonde haired man with nothing but his jeans and vest on. She quickly stammered an apology and made an attempt to escape before his hand was on her shoulder. She could smell the beer on him along with the pungent odor of Skunk. He grinned down at her, eyes bloodshot and his equilibrium shot off to Hell.

"Hey, ain't you a little young to be here?" He slurred. He wouldn't remember anything so she quickly nodded. "Oh..cool, hey you want some?" He held out his cup to her and the strong smell of alcohol attacked her nose and she shook her head, pushing his hand away.

"No thanks..I had a soda on the way over."

He shrugged and gulped down the rest of his drink before throwing the cup carelessly over his shoulder. His hand was still on her shoulder and she picked it off. The blonde's attention was suddenly back on her and he grinned again, though she could tell there was something hidden behind it as he leaned closer. His hand was braced against the wall as he pinned Emma in the corner, smirking.

"First party, right? Figured. Hey, why don't we take this upstairs and get to know each other a little better?"

She swallowed hard, her blood rushing in her ears, her hands were suddenly on his chest and she shoved him away. "Rather not.." She turned to leave before a thick arm was around her waist and she yelped as she was pulled back.

"Now that's not nice, you bumped into _me_, kid," She heard him growled. Now she knew she never should have come.

"Y-Yeah, but I said I was sorry!" She struggled in his grip, only to have his arm tighten on her.

"I think you should show me how sorry you are."

Chilling fear gripped her and refused to let go as he took a step closer to the stairs. She dug her heels into the floor to stop but it prove fruitless against his strength. Then she was suddenly let go as the man was shoved forward. Emma didn't stick around and bolted off the floor and through the patio door to what she hoped was safety from the party.

Had she decided to look back, she would have saw the blonde man pick himself up and glare at the other behind him. His head was down and hood up with strands of black hair falling over his forehead. The blonde shoved at him and cursed him out how he "made him miss a good fucking!" His drunken mind was too slow to focus as the other man's eyes raised to his, black rings around and bloodshot from never being able to close. He never even registered the way his smile was stretched all the way across his face, just his voice as he said, "I think it's time for you to go to sleep.."

Emma rushed out onto the patio, panting softly and watching as her breath froze in the air. The music could still be heard but it was not as obnoxious as before. She sat down with a sigh, the cement cold under her jeans causing her to pull her hoodie around her tighter and shivered. Dew was just beginning to collect on the grass and she swept her hand over the soft blades of emerald, not really caring as the freezing condensation collected on her hand and turned her fingers numb.

She wiped off the water and stuffed her hands in her front pocket, curling up on the steps and looking up to the sky. An scattered puzzle of stars glistened above her head in the heavens, waving down to her as they brought beauty to the night air. Emma heaved another sigh as she dropped her gaze and looked on to the forest line just a few hundred feet away.

She wished to be back at the Orphanage. She wished for Miss Jackie to be back and alive so that she could sing her to sleep.

She was pulled from her thoughts of home by the buzzing of her left pocket and she pulled out her phone. A text message from that blocked number as before.

_I told you you shouldn't have come. You're welcome._

Her nails rapped against the back of her phone as she forced herself to calm down, taking a deep breath as she typed away at her screen.

**How did you get my number? Who are you? And HOW did you know my name? **

She waited for a tense second. A minute. Maybe they weren't going to text back, why would they? Maybe it was just a scam set up by the phone company.

Her phone buzzed again.

_I know many things about you and Jeff, Emma. As for who I am? That doesn't matter. _

She pushed down the fear creeping up her spine and she was about to reply before they sent another.

_You never should have come here. Neither of you should ever be out at night. _

**Oh Yeah? Why should I listen to you? I'm just gonna stay out here for as long as I want.**

She blew her bangs out of her face as she huffed, crossing her arms and staring at the screen, just waiting for his reply. The wind picked up and grabbed at her sweatshirt and hair, the growing feeling of unease stronger now than before as she glanced about. For some reason, she stared at the forest, for whatever was giving her this feeling was hiding amongst the trees and shadows.

Her phone vibrated against her leg and she was terrified to look away, but she slowly looked back down to her phone and to the last message glowing dimly against the blackness of night.

_Emma..._

_Get back in the house. RIGHT. NOW. _

The light on the side of the house flickered violently, flashing black and white until the bulb popped and shattered. Emma yelped, watching in horror as all the other light bulbs around the house followed the same as the first and she was soon encased in darkness. She was trembling hard against the stone steps as ice cold terror stole her bravery. She glanced about, the temperature beginning to drop and she could feel the frost settling on her cheeks.

She didn't need to see for her to know which direction was the forest and she turned her head towards it. She nearly jumped in fright as she felt a light shock in the back of her eyes, a tingling sensation that shot back into her head.

Someone was staring at her and through the darkness she had met their gaze.

"H-Hello?" She called out timidly, pulling her sweatshirt tighter around her. She prayed for silence, that it was all her imagination.

To her horror, she was met with a deep chuckle resounding from the forest and the snapping of a twig. Emma was frozen where she was, unable to move as her soon to be murdered came out of the woods.

From somewhere, she didn't know where, came a beam of flickering light as if from a candle and she got a true look at him. At first she saw his eyes, glowing white and surrounded by black rings. His smile was grotesque and revealed rows upon rows of sharpened teeth. His skin did not look like skin at all, more like plastic or rubber with dirty black hair matted and clinging to his shoulders.

He was a clown. Patchy black and white clown outfit with striped sleeves and socks. His arms hung past his waist and gave the impression that he might have been boneless.

Tears were beginning to rise up in her eyes as he came closer, his laugh growing louder.

His voice would forever haunt Emma's dreams.

He spoke and it was like a living shadow had crept into her brain and opened up every single fearful experience and put it all into one, long armed clown.

"Hello, Emma. It's so nice to finally meet you.."

Her heart was pounding in her rib cage, adrenaline roaring through her veins and giving her the instinct to run yet she could not. She could not physically move from her spot on the steps and could only watch in terror as he moved closer, claws reaching out for her throat. The sickeningly sweet smell of popcorn and cotton candy wafted it's way to her senses, the joyous sounds of children laughing in the back of her head as the danced around their clown friend.

She was finally able to find her voice, yet she wanted no claim to the fear that dripped from every word. "W-Who are you?"

The clown chuckled again, her terrified expression reflected in his glossy eyes. She could already feel the cold grip of his claws around her neck, the sharp tip pressing into her skin and threatening to slice open her jugular. She was about to die at the hands of something that was suppose to bring children joy.

"JACK!" She heard the other voice from far away, unable to take her eyes off her killer as he suddenly looked up and his eyes widened. Another black and white blur shot over her head and tackled the clown away from her. Emma took a sudden gasp of air, falling back onto the main patio as the ice running through her blood melted. The light was gone but her eyes had adjusted and she could make out the two wrestling on the ground. One was irrefutably smaller than the other but he was somehow able to pin the demon balloon animal maker on his back and slam his fists into his face.

She wasn't sure why he was mad at the clown but she didn't care, she scrambled up and took off running for her life, around the house and out into the empty street. Her sneakers slapped the concrete as she panted, forcing herself to only look ahead. She tripped on the curb, yelping as she went crashing down the hill. Sharp rocks dug into her skin as she rolled, coming to a stop with her back against a tree. Emma gasped in pain, heaving herself up on weakened arms and pushing to her feet.

She glanced up to see the one who had helped her come sliding down the hill with ease, however closely followed behind was the devil himself and she screamed. Emma turned and ran into the forest, the branches reaching out and slapping her face for disturbing their peace. Cuts and scrapes were forming along her face, neck, and hands as she pushed forward and the branches away.

It was too dark. She couldn't see! Pain exploded through her face as she slammed into the twisted arm of an old oak. The ground became her pillow and her vision spun rapidly, splitting agony radiating from her skull and warmth began to seep from her nose and down her cheek.

Emma moaned in agony, her palms flat against the ground as she tried to push herself up but strength and will were gone. She waited for either the clown to come and kill her or for unconsciousness to come and steal her away.

She couldn't tell if the concussion had done something to her hearing but she heard the faintest sound of snapping twigs and then the trees parted. She was in enough pain, even moving her eye balls hurt! She didn't dare look up, closing her eyes to avoid looking at whoever it was if it may be the clown. There was the frantic sound of footsteps coming closer and she relaxed on the ground, ready for the cold grip on black claws.

Whoever it was was panting hard, muttering a curse when he saw her. Her wrist was grabbed and she expected a sickening twist and snap, but to her surprise, she was hoisted up and thrown over their shoulder. She risked a glance down to see the earth below along with black jeans and the back of a white hoodie.

Was she looking at herself?

His grip on her tightened as he started running again, she didn't need to look up to know the clown demon was close by.

_Present..._

How long had he been running? Emma couldn't quite remember but she had to give it to him, she wasn't the lightest of people and anyone who could run long distance with her on their back was pretty impressive. His strides were getting slower until he was at a slow walk, neatly hyperventilating. He repositioned her, holding her princess style with her head lolling against his shoulder.

There was something hanging in the air, something foreign to the smell of nature and wet grass. It was harsh, strong, and coppery. Blood. She was smelling blood. Had they actually gone at it hard enough to draw blood? The clown barely got a hit on him!

He stopped, and Emma felt herself being lowered until the bark of a tree was lightly biting through the fabric of her sweatshirt. Her head fell over her right shoulder only to be tilted back and examined by him. Was he making sure she was okay? Who was he anyway? She struggled to open her eyes, her vision blurring and all the colors merging into grey. But at the center of her vision she saw white and black, but mostly white. She tried to squint, to see clearer but his other hand came up and shut her eyelids. "Shh..just go to sleep, Emma."

She didn't need to be told twice, her mind already slipping away and her muscles relaxing. He spoke up again, but she was unsure if she had heard right.

But if memory served her correctly, she could have sworn he had said, "It's alright. Just go to sleep, Daddy's right here.."


	3. It all matters on time

A two year old boy sits by his sister in their living room, giggling happily as they played with their favorite toys. The little girl held a stuffed rabbit toy tightly until it squeaked while her brother holds a tiny, yellow smiley face pillow. He teethed on it with a soft babble and they never noticed or heard the low thudding footsteps approaching them.

The little children saw the shadows fall over them and they looked up, smiling brightly when the familiar faces of their parents came into view. They reached their arms up to their opposite parent, the boy being cradled against his mother's chest while his sister was lifted up into her father's arms. The boy had abandoned his pillow and was instead playing with the pearl necklace around his mother's neck, giggling to himself as they jingled together.

"Typical, I have a son named after me, but he's more like you." He heard his father say, but knew no meaning to the words yet. To the twins, it was all just babble they were not used to.

"Well adleast you have Emma, Jeff. She can always be daddy's little girl while I have my baby boy." She kissed the boy's head and he giggled louder, playing with a strand of his mother's curly black hair.

"I guess you're right..Ain't she, Emma?" He tickled the girl under her chin, causing her to bubble up in laughter and grab her father's hand. She let go of her rabbit to wrap her other tiny hand around his finger, not willing to let go as she cooed softly. Her mother knelt down to scoop up the rabbit, fixing it's overall dress before handing it back to Emma.

"I'm always right, Jeff." The twins' mother said, fixating her son on her hip. Their father rolled his eyes, scoffing. "Whatever, Jane.." They never noticed the water rising up around them. But the children did. They watched with fear as the crystal water rose up high and higher past their parents' lags. Jeffrey let out a small sound, trying to move out of his mother's grip to get away from the water but she only held him tighter.

The water was rising faster, it was beginning to soak into his sock. He didn't want to be trapped under water! He squirmed harder, the water quickly rising up past his knee. He tried hitting his mother to get her attention, even trying to say Mama. The water was up to his chest now, not slowing down in the slightest. All Jeffrey could do was take a deep breath as the water heightened to his chin and even past that. Bubbles were escaping his nose and he screamed into the water, eyes shooting open wide.

Jeff suddenly shot up, whipping his face out of the sink full of running water as he coughed and sputtered. He looked around, spraying water droplets in different directions. He could still hear the music downstairs, the party still going on even as he accidentally fell asleep while rinsing his face. He grabbed a towel and dried himself along with as much as he could on his black sweatshirt before heading back downstairs.

He eased by a couple too engrossed in each other's faces to even notice him, looking around and spotting the clock. Midnight? It was already Midnight? Maybe it was time he and Emma went home.

Wait...

Where was Emma?

Jeff looked around more, trying to spot either the white hoodie or the familiar brown curls of his sister. He searched the rooms, a deep sinking feeling beginning to grow in his stomach when he realized she was nowhere to be found. "Oh no.." He tried to remember where he had saw her go when they first arrived. She had gone to the left. Out to the patio!

He rushed through the door, trying for a light only to crunch on the broken peices of light bulb. He looked down, staring at the shard under his sneakers before raising his eyes to the dark forest and calling out. "Emma! Em let's go home!" He listened as his voice carried off in an echo, waiting for his sister's reply. There came none.

The boy quickly pulled out his phone and dialed his sister's number, bringing it to his ear and listening to it ring.

"Come on, come on! Em where are you?"

_So what if you can see the darkest side of me? No one will ever change this animal I have become. Help me believe it's not the real me. Somebody help me tame this animal I have become! _

Dread filled into his heart as he turned his head to where he heard his sister's ringtone and the small light shining from within the grass by the steps. Jeff picked up Emma's phone, looking around the dark as he clutched it tightly. "M-Maybe she already went home and dropped her phone," He said, trying to reassure himself.

He circled around the house and took a left turn, hurrying down the street and taking the fastest route to the Orphanage. He burst through the door, throwing on a light as he rushed into their shared room. "Emma! Emma, you here?" Light chased away the darkness in their room as he opened the door, staring at two empty beds.

"Oh no..oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no no no no no!" He ran back outside, heading deep into the forest as he screamed into the air. "EMMA! EMMA WHERE ARE YOU!?" The tree tried to grab at him and hold him back but Jeff only pushed on, ignoring the small rips and tears forming along his sweatshirt.

He had to find her. He had to find Emma. Was she kidnapped? Had she slept over at a friend's house? When had she even gone outside? Why did he have to push her into coming?

The trees suddenly opened up into a small clearing and he skidded to a halt, looking around wildly as his sense of direction vanished. His shoulders slumped as tears weld up in his eyes, dropping to his knees. "No..Emma.." He buried his face in his hands as tears rushed down his face, teeth clenching together as he refrained from pulling his hair in anger.

He suddenly looked up when there was a small noise in front of him. "Emma?" He called out again. A figure did step out of the trees, but it was not his sister. The measurements were all wrong. The waist was too thick, the arms and legs too built. Whoever it was was male, a pale yellow hoodie hugging their upper half with loose fitting blue jeans covering their legs. He thought he could see the other's face under the hood, but it was too dark. They appeared to be frowning though.

"Please..," Jeff whimpered, getting back to his feet, "help me find me sister.."

The person remained silent, staring at him before walking forward to get a closer look. Jeff's vision was beginning to adjust and now he could see why he was unable to make out their facial features. They were wearing a mask. A black mask that covered their face and neck with red embroidered eyes and frown. He instinctively took a step back out of fear only to have the other take a step closer.

They looked him up and down, taking him in and analyzing him like a vulture to it's prey. They suddenly snagged his left hand and he yelped. "Hey! Let go!" He tried to pull his wrist out of the other's grip but it was iron tight. They looked at his palm, pulling his sleeve up more to reveal part of his arm. A tense second of silence and then he heard the other boy gasp suddenly and let go of his hand.

He pulled his hand back, staring at the masked other in confusion. Behind the yarn he could tell they were staring back at him, either with the intent to kill or to help flashing in their unseen eyes. He finally caught sign of his breath, white puffs of air escaping from his mouth everytime his breathed. It couldn't have been that cold could it?

There was the snapping of a twig and Jeff turned to look over his shoulder, yelping when the hoodied other yanked him back around and began pulling him through the forest. He had no time to ask where they were going as a low chuckle slithered it's way to his ears, ice creeping down his spine at the chilling laughter. For some reason, he imagined a clown with black claws chasing him through an abandoned amusement park, the sugary sweet smells of cotton candy and funnel cakes now sickening and caking him in fear.

he could even hear distant music somewhere, a familiar little tune that all children had heard adleast once in their life time. It was Pop Goes The Wheasel.

Why did it seem like he really should be running?

Why did he feel like he had been in this situation before?

If the hoodied figure was running he might as well too! jeff yanked his hand away and picked up his dragging feet, soon becoming neck and neck with the other boy as whatever it was chasing them chuckled again. It was deep and miliscious, spreading ice through his veins as he caught the subtle hints of cotton candy again.

He wanted to look back but a voice inside him yelled at him not to, that if he did whatever he saw would the last thing he would see.

His foot suddenly snagged on an up root and Jeff yelped, tripping and his chin slammed into the ground. He tasted blood for a moment and groaned as he stood back up, rubbing his aching jaw. The person in the yellow hoodie and mask was gone, never noticing he fell, and for the first time in a very very long time, Jeff felt alone.

The trees loomed over him, reaching out with their crooked fingers to grab at him and pull him deeper into the forest and never let him go. Jeff shivered, pulling his dark sweatshirt around him tighter. Even with all the darkness he could see his breath, the sweat collecting on his brow even beginning to freeze. He looked around in a desperate hope to find the other he had been with. "Hello?" He called out, the woods swallowing his voice and keeping it from carrying off.

The chill in his veins spread and burned at the back of his skull. Someone was watching him, with a deadly intent. He glanced over his shoulder slowly, turning to get a better look.

He immediately regretted ever coming out into the forest.

If the stranger with the black mask was odd, what stood before him was ultimately terrifying.

A clown. A tall, lanky armed, dishevealed looking clown stood barely a foot away from him. There was what appeared to be blood dripping from the side of his mouth, as if he had gotten into a previous fight with something. As it's glowing white eyes stared down at him, Jeff could vaguely hear the music from before, along with the dismembered laughter of small children as they danced around their clown friend. But this was no joy bringer.

Then it spoke and Jeff could feel the air ripped out of him.

"Your sister eluded me...but you will not be so lucky."

Before he could even begin to wonder what that meant, a crushing pressure was suddenly on his throat and his eyes widened in horror. Jeff clawed at the black claws around his neck, gasping for air as his asophogus was squeezed tight. He was lifted off the ground, kicking his legs out in an attempt to strike the clown and release him.

It was no use, the edged of his vision were quickly darkening and his movements were growing slower as his strength was literally being pulled out of him. He grabbed at the clown's wrist weakly in a last attempt before he blacked out. All he did though was grin at him as he killed the teen slowly and painfully.

Jeff never saw the flash of yellow behind the clown, his eyes already close and breath thin even as a thick branch smashed into the back of the demon's skull.

The clown yelped as he stumbled forward, losing his grip on jeff and holding the back of his head in pain as he glared back to who had struck him. His eyes met the dark blue ones of the teen who's face hid behind a mask, mouth blacked out with raised eyebrows. The boy threw down the branch, fists curled at his sides as he stared the clown down.

There was a noise in front of him and Laughing Jack turned to see Masky's partner come out of the forest. He slowly rose to his feet, glancing between the two as he heaved quietly. Then, the one with the white mask spoke.

"Get out of here, Jack! They're not yours and they never will be!"

Jack snarled low, baring his teeth as he barked. "I nearly got both tonight! I would have had them long ago had it not been for you two!"

From behind his mask, Tim narrowed his eyes. "They're too strong for you, Jack. Even if you get them alone again, once they figure out who they are they'll be too powerful for you alone."

"They are _children_."

"Yeah, but whose children are they? Your days are numbered before they realize who they are, and then you'll never get to them."

Laughing Jack shook his head and pointed an accusing claw to the boy. "You wait and see. Their fifteenth will be their last! Their blood will run and their souls will be mine." Those were the clowns last words before he melted down and vanished into a puff of black smoke, leaving nothing but the smell of rubber of cake behind.

Masky and Hoody quickly rushed to the fallen Jeff, rolling him onto his back to clear his airway in case anything had somehow gotten in there. Masky looked him over, tilting his head side to side to check for any other injuries. All it looked like however, was just the bruises on his neck from Jack's claws. He felt his friend's gaze on him and looked up, finding the other teen staring at him through his mask.

"I know, I know! Believe me, I do. If what Laughing Jack says is true, hen we don't have a lot of time.." He looked back down to the male twin on the ground. "and neither do they."


	4. Best Friends Forever

_"Homicidal Maniac broke free from Colorado Psychiatric ward-Victims found with eyes carved out and mouths cut up into a smile-family of four, three dead, youngest son to blame-GO TO SLEEP!" _

Emma woke with a yelp, shooting straight up in bed and panting as she looked around for the scource of the horrid buzzing. The sky was dark with tints of orange just barely grazing the horizon. She looked ver to her alarm clock, the indicator of the wretched sound, and slammed her fist down on the snooze button. The numbers read 6:00 AM, just like if she were to wake up for school.

But school did not start for another week. When had she set her alarm? And when had she gotten home?

She looked across the room, finding her brother gently snoring away in his own bed and she let her shoulders sag in relie with a sigh. Her alarm was turned off and she rolled back over, trying to forget the previous night's events, if they had indeed happened, and closed her eyes. She dreamt of brown rabbits hopping through soft green meadows while wearing overall dresses.

Emma twitched and grumbled to herself as she was pulled from sleep once more by her phone ringing. She rolled back over and grabbed the device, answering it without even looking at who it was as she yawned. "Hello?"

"Emma? Thank God you're alright! I thought for a moment you ended up like the guy on the news!"

she was slowly waking back up, barely catching what Christian had said last. "Guy on the news?"

There was silence on the other line for a while and Emma thought maybe the call had dropped. It didn't. "Em, turn on Channel 6, NOW." She raised an eyebrow at her friend's reactin before shrugging it off and pulling herself out of bed, heading to the living room and turning on the television to the news as she had asked.

"Our top story tonight, the infamous "Go To Sleep" Killer or what many on the internet are calling him "Jeff The Killer" has struck again. Police found the dead body of 20 year old Brian Manolin last night around 4:15 AM. The victim's eyes had been cut out and his cheeks carved in with a smile."

Emma's blood ran cold as the news reporter was replaced with a headshot of the killed. It was the same blonde from the party who tried to drag her upstairs. She nearly dropped her phone, unable to turn away from the broadcasting as it continued.

"Many believe Jeff strikes with random, however, this seemed more like a personal revenge rather than just random bloodshed. Pinned to Brian's body, police found a note written in his own blood. I am not allowed to show it as it is evidence, but I can read what it said. The note said, "This is for messing with my little girl." Officers are now asking questions about any suspiscious female characters that may have been present the last time Brian was seen alive-"

Emma quickly turned off the television, trembling where she stood. Little girl? What did that mean? And the man who rescued her...

"Em? Em, you still there?"

She quickly shook out of her thoughts, bringing the phone back to her ear with a shaky hand. "Y-Yeah..yeah I'm still here. Hey, can I sleep over at your house tonight?"

"Sure. Why?"

"I just...really want to see you."

Emma rapped her knuckle's against Christian's door, waiting for a second and hearing the axious girl's footsteps. The moment the door flew open, Emma was pulled into a hug by her best friend. "I haven't seen you all Summer! How's it going? How's Jeff? Did he quit! I'VE JUST MISSED YOU SO MUCH!"

She had to laugh and smile as she hugged the redhead back, feeling safe for the first time in hours since the party. "I've missed you too, Chris. We have a lot to catch up on." They separated and went inside, Emma kicking off her shoes by the door as custom and following Christian to her room. She left her duffel bag by the other girl's door as she sat on the bed, relaxing against the mound of pillows with a soft sigh. "Chris, you will not believe the day I've had."

The other snorted, plopping next to her with curiousity shining in her hazel eyes. "Try me, Overlander."

Emma sat up, freezing as the feeling of eyes boring into the back of her skull came up again. She had to look away from her friend and out the window. Christian's bedroom window faced the forest, nothing to see for miles except trees upon trees. But Emma saw differently this time. Within the mass of foliage she picked out the figure easily, their eyes meeting eachother's. He had pale blue eyes a little like her own, and he was crouched along the sturdy branch, the hood to his white sweatshirt pulled up over his head. He was deathly pale even hidden within the shadows, dark circles around his eyes that were not from fatigue. If she looked close enough, she would almost say his eyelids had been burned away.

The strange thing was, Emma was not afraid. In fact, she was the calmest she's been all week. She felt compelled to go to him, whoever he was. She felt like she needed to be with him.

"Hello! Earth to Overlander!" Christian waved a hand in her friend's face, catching her off guard and snapping her out of her trance. She looked at her with some uneasiness and Emma saw this. "What?"

"Are you..feeling okay?" She asked.

Emma raised an eyebrow. "Fine. Why?"

Christian shifted. "Cause you were being weird for a minute. You were staring out the window and kept muttering this creepy shit."

The brunette blinked, staring at her friend. True she was staring but muttering? No. "I..said something? What did I say?" She could tell her friend was growing more worried by the second.

"Em, you kept saying go to sleep. And you were smiling while you did it. What were you staring at?"

Emma looked back to the window to show her, only to find the man in the trees gone. But she knew, he was still watching her. "I..just thought I saw something..probably a baby squirrel that needed to let it's mother rest."

Christian looked at her friend, folding her arms across her chest and raising an eyebrow. "You saw a squirrel? Do you honestly expect me to believe that?"

Emma shrugged. "I was kinda hoping." That earned her a slug in her arm from the red head.

"Spill it, Overlander! What did you _really_ see?"

Emma rubbed at her arm, avoiding her friend's gaze as she contemplated how she would say this. "I..think I saw a man in the tree..and I think he's been following me." She saw the other girl's eyes widen, arms falling back to their sides as she stared at her then quickly looked outside only to find the tree bare of any human life.

"You say a guy in the tree? What'd he look like? Did you know him?" She never saw Emma shaking her head as she continued to search for the mysterious figure.

"I don't think I do, and describing him..might be a little hard-" She never finished as Christian shot off her bed and grabbed her art supplies, bundling her sketchbook, colored pencils, and pens in her arms before dumping them in Emma's lap. "Draw him!"

Emma picked off the art compenents before looking at her. "What?"

"Draw him! Come on, you're great at it. Draw the guy you say in the tree!"

She knew there was no arguing and Emma grudgingly agreed as she took the pencil that was handed to her, turning to a clean page in her friend's sketchbook. It was easy getting the outline of the head, his face was narrow but rounded out at the bottom. His neck wasn't too thick, a bit thin but no more than her brother's or Shane's. The man was wearing a sweatshirt, letting her hand move freely across the page without reasoning to get the folds and natural curves right. Then came the facial details. For some reason, she wanted to take her time with these, make sure they were perfect.

Make sure they were beautiful.

She started with the eyes, large and round and taking up most of his face. His irises were small, the pupils half their size. He had a somewhat sharp nose like her own. His smile finally came and she paused in her sketching, trying to remember how it had been. Was he smiling? Yes, she knew he was. It was a big smile, very big, like Jeff's. Showing lots of teeth and she thought even part of his gums. She drew it out with a skilled hand, the man reappearing on her page as she moved to the shaggy hair that always hung in his eyes. It was about shoulder length, thick but dirty and matted with dirt. Black. He had black hair.

She grabbed the black colored pencil and stenciled in his hair, small strokes making it look like actual hair fibers and not just lines. His eyes were blue like her own, except the coloring had faded some to a near grey. You could only tell they were blue if you had looked at them very closely.

So how did she know? He was about 50 feet away from the window when she saw him and he was in the shadows. So how could she possibly know his eyes were blue?

Emma decided not to dwell on it, mixing the grey and blue colored pencils to get the desired effect before moving to his skin. She made an attempt to grab the skin toned pencils but stopped. No, that didn't feel right. That just didn't feel right. She instead grabbed the red pencils, mixing and shading as she colored in his mouth. His teeth were shaded in along with his sweatshirt, a light shade of pink around his eyes for a bloodshot look and then it was done.

No. Wait, not quite yet. Something was missing.

There was just something missing to him. Emma looked at the tools lay before her, waiting to become one with her creation as her eyes fell on her desired drawing utensil. A black ink pen.

She uncapped the masterpiece, the fine point sharp from almost never being used. She touched the tip to the paper just on the outside of his eyes, making quick, messy strokes around each one adleast half an inch thick. There. Now he was done.

"Alright, this is it." She handed the sketchpad back to Christian and began to put away the rest of the art supplies. She put them neatly back into the bag her friend kept in her closet and always promised to take out more when she noticed just how quiet she had become. Normally Christian would been loudly complimenting and envying her talent. Emma turned and looked at her friend.

Christian's face was one of shock and horror as she stared at the drawing, her hands beginning to shake and she dropped the pad on the bed before lifting her eyes up to Emma's. "Do you have any idea who you just drew?" She whispered.

Emma did not like how scared the usually brash young woman had become. "It's the guy I saw in the tree." She watched as her friend's eyes widened even more, bottom lip quivering.

"Em, this is Jeff!"

Emma's worry dispersed the moment she said that, raising an eyebrow as she looked between her friend and her drawing. "Whaddya talking about? That looks nothing like him." Christian's eyes rolled before standing up, leaving the drawing resting on the bed.

"Not your Jeff, the other Jeff!"

"Other Jeff?"

"The one from the news? The Go To Sleep killer? Didn't you read that text I sent you?" She waited for her friend's reply, getting her answer from the brunette's silence. "Oh my God..Emma, _please_ tell me you read that text."

The other girl shuffled her feet, rubbing nervously at her arm. "Not really, Chris. It was a chain message so I just-deleted it." She saw the redhead's eyes widen once more in horror.

"Em, do you have any idea what you've done? Your very life is at stake here! Come here." She took hold of Emma's arm and dragged her out to the loft, shoving her into a chair as she slid in front of the computer monitor. She tapped away at the keyboard, bringing up a wikipedia page and story. She moved out of the way for her friend to see. "Read."

" "Creepypasta"? Chris, I'm not reading-"

"Read it! Read the entry and then tell me if what's been happening isn't the same. They're real, Emma. Jeff is real."

Emma sighed in defeat, leaning forward to get a better look at the screen to begin reading. The entry started out with a brief discription of a lunatic teen going around and killing people at random after he had killed his family. The more she read, the more the feeling of being watched grew and she twitched in her seat. She will admit, the story was very disturbing and so chillingly similiar to what had been happening in their town that it scared her.

She finally sat back in the chair, a small shiver running up her spine. "Okay, yeah that's creepy."

"I told you!" Christian went back and grabbed her sketch pad, bringing it over still flipped open to Emma's drawing. "Em, you're my friend and I don't want you in any trouble. This guy can seriously hurt you. I think maybe tell the police."

Emma stared at her friend in disbelief. "The cops? Chris, are you insane? I can't go to the police! They'll take me and Jeff away-they'll seperate us!"

"Emma, you could be in serious danger!"

The burnette stood up and matched her friend's heigh, getting in close as she glared to the younger girl. "I could care less. Jeff and I only have each other and we're not about to let anyone take that away from us. I'm not gonna risk getting seperated from my brother, even with the thought of some maniac after me hanging over my head."

The other stared into bright, angry blue eyes. For a moment, Christian saw something that ade her blood run cold. If she imagined it just right, the ghost white skin, the cut up cheeks, Emma looked just like the killer on the news. "You would actually put your brother's wellbeing before your own? Are you crazy?"

"Look," Emma took a step out of the girl's personal space, "I get you understand because you're an only child, but when you share your life with someone, hell even a womb!-You kinda form a connection with them." She averted her eyes, anger diminishing as she sighed. "It's..hard to explain..it's kind of like we'll go insane if we're seperated. That's why we do everything together. We need eachother or else."

Christian remained quiet for a moment, looking at her friend longer. She had known Emma since the first grade, and they had been best friends for as long as they each could remember. But for what seemed like the first time, it was as if she was learning everything for the first time. In a way she was. She remembered back in third grade, Emma and Jeff got put in seperate classrooms and the twins had fits of rage over it. Not even Miss Jackie coming in to calm them down could help. After several CAT scans, visits to numerous doctors, and clean bills of health, no one could figure out why the twins needed to be together. They just did.

Jeff had splattered paint over the walls and actually managed to flip one of the tables.

Emma threw blocks everywhere and broke a window.

Evidentally, Miss Jackie had a talk with the board administrator and they worked someting out. Jeff was placed in Emma's room (and just on the safe side had his assigned seat next to her) and then the rest of the year went without anymore incidents.

She was about to say something before they heard the front door open and close.

"Emma! Christian! I'm home!"

The two girls looked at each other, blinked and then started sputtering out in laughter. That was the thing, they could never stay mad at each other for long. The freckled teen nudged the other. "Come on, my mom's making Enchiladas tonight and she wants us to help." She made way to her door and just barely out before her elbow was snagged. She turned to look back at the burnette.

"Chris, don't..don't tell anyone okay?" There was desperation shining in those blue orbs.

Christian pulled her back into a hug. "I won't. You're like family to us and we'd hate to see you go. You're my best friend and practically my sister." She gave her a squeeze before pulling back and smiling again. "Come on, mom's waiting.."

Emma couldn't help but to smile back and follow her friend down the stairs.

Had the two stayed upstairs for just a minute longer, they may have just caught sight of the window getting pushed open in the master bedroom and the hooded figure sneaking in.


End file.
